A restaurant is quitting its premises - just one week after being named Best Café in a food and drink awards ceremony.

The Bakehouse, in Heritage Close, St Albans, was crowned a winner in the St Albans and Harpenden Food and Drink Awards 2016 on Monday (3), but will cease trading from their current building this weekend.

The decision to leave the premises came after Merritts Property Ltd, the company that own the building, made an offer on the lease.

The owners are currently exploring other locations but have yet to find an alternative. The owners now plan to make improvements to the building.

The café, which has two floors, will now only be running a reduced service from its second-floor coffee shop until they stop trading on Sunday (9).

General manager Simon Blunt said that winning the food and drink award “is a testament to how hard the team has worked.”

He continued: “The business still exists and essentially we have been made an offer by the landlord to vacate.

“We would like to try and stay in St Albans because we have loyal customers here.

“It’s not a malicious move by the landlord and we are keen to stress that the business hasn’t failed.”

The Bakehouse is also looking into ways it can continue running without a permanent location if necessary.

Simon said: “We are keen to look into ways to continue trading, whether that’s pop up stalls on the market and things like that.”

Current employees face redundancy and Simon added: “Some of the guys that work here have been here since day one and so they are very emotionally attached to the business.

“We have a fantastic team and a good working environment; if anybody has any work opportunities for them please get in touch.”